Whittingham says Utah got a good start this spring on positions of need

Utah Coach Kyle Whittingham speaks to his team after the annual Red & White Spring Game at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 15, 2017.

The objective every year is to make every player in the program more fundamentally and technique sound.—Utah coach Kyle Whittingham

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah football wrapped up spring ball earlier this week. The Utes practiced for a couple of hours Tuesday to close things out — three days after their spring game at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

“We had a chance to clean some things up, errors in the game and things that needed to be addressed,” said Utah coach Kyle Whittingham. “So I thought it was a good format and a good way to finish spring ball.”

The final practice deviated from the traditional spring schedule that culminated with the Red-White Game. That’s because the Utes worked around spring break, opting to begin practices before the time off from classes.

Although Whittingham liked how the calendar worked out this year, he noted that it’s a to-be-determined thing in the future.

“A lot of it hinges when spring break happens — as far as the timing. You wish it were the exact same every year, but it’s not,” Whittingham said. “Spring break moves around a little bit. So that has a bearing on how we do things.”

As a whole, Whittingham noted that the Utes had a very productive spring camp.

“The objective every year is to make every player in the program more fundamentally and technique sound,” he said.

Whittingham added that the specific objectives this year included a complete rebuild of the offensive line and significant personnel changes in the secondary.

“We felt like we got a really good start on those two position groups,” he said. “By no means are things settled. We have a lot of guys that will be coming in this summer. The new recruits that will be factors at those two positions, and so it’s to be continued in fall camp. But we got a good start on it.”

The Utes will begin summer conditioning on May 30. Whittingham anticipates that a vast majority of the fall campers will participate. That includes running back Zack Moss. The sophomore, who broke a bone in his arm during the spring game, may be limited with upper body work for a few weeks.

Freshman tight end Chad Hekking, however, is likely out until late August with an unspecified injury.

Utah opens its fall camp on Aug. 3.

“We’ve got a lot of new guys that will be getting their opportunity to show what they can do,“ Whittingham said. “We’re looking forward to working with the incoming recruits — a handful are here already, but the vast majority will be here within a couple of months.”